Hogges in Guatemala

School Kits

I just finished my devotional at the CCM to the English speaking Sisters about modesty and Dad is giving one to the English speaking Elders about the Ordinances. Then at 4:15 he gives the same devotional on Ordinances to the Spanish speaking Elders and I am going to sit in on the one on Modesty for the Spanish Sisters. Hopefully I can pick up some info I can share next time I give it.

I was just thinking how things have changed since we first got here. We were first assigned to a ward where we helped with Family History and other than that I would sit in meetings totally in Spanish and feeling like I wasn't getting much out of them and never really contributing much. Now we have two of the three hours each Sunday in English and we are preparing devotionals for almost every week we are here. It has been really good for me to prepare and present a discussion about a topic. I enjoy being more involved with the Sisters here at the CCM.

This past week we made arrangements to not be at the Clinic on Thursday, but to go out with some of our dear friends the Reynas and Curtises to distribute school kits to three rural elementary schools just about an hour outside of Guatemala City. They were OK schools, but very basic and a little primitive. At the first school there were two grades in each classroom and just four classrooms with about 75 kids attending there. We had a young female dentist with us at each of the schools who helped the kids with a fluoride rinse. She said she is there once a month. The children would all stand in a line outside the classrooms where we would handout the school kits. Then the dentist would give each child a small disposable cup with rinse in it and tell them to wait there as a group and put the fluoride in their mouths when she told them to. When they were all ready she told them to go ahead and swish for three minutes, a long time for these kids. Invariable some would start laughing and spit it out early, but when the time was up she had them all spit on the ground and warned them not to spit on their friends.

The second school was the same routine but with more kids. I have added one picture of the kids that if you look close you can see all the confetti in the girls hair. This week is a holiday called Carnival and last week the kids had several eggs shells called Cascarones. It is a shell that the egg has been taken out and then the shell is colored like at Easter, then filled with confetti and a small square of tissue paper glued on the opening to seal in the confetti. It is then broken over someones head. Maybe you kids remember that we had some at Easter that Marta gave us. It is evidently a custom in El Salvador also. We haven't quite been able to figure out what the holiday is for. Someone yesterday told us the carnival is celebrated 40 days before Easter. I just can't see the connection.

At one of the schools we saw a lady walking by with some large chickens under her arms. Their feet were tied together and they were very docile. Dad went down to talk to her. She was a single lady with no family and she was selling these chicken to make a little money. As he was talking to her she reached down and pulled out a small black chicken from her apron pocket and had more in other pockets. She let me take a couple pictures of her. Hermana Curtis gave her a few quets and the lady tried to give her the little black chicken, LaFaunda said she was giving her money so she didn't have to take a chicken home.

The Third school had two classrooms and perhaps 25 students. Some people in Italy had donated some new desks to this school and they had more than they needed so they stacked them up against the wall. This school had more books than I have seen in any other school here, they were not new but still I was impressed. They had a little two room outhouse and the girls would hold the door whenever a friend was inside using it. After driving several miles on dirt roads we came to this little steep sidewalk up to the school and here is a picture Dad passing out the kits and one of all the students with their school kits.

I have a question for Elders Martin and Laren Edwards. Are your missions being effected by the change being made in 19 missions. The Logan mission is being dissolved and the area being added back into the Ogden mission.

A couple more pictures just for fun. Bananas for sale on the side of the street.